Joining us here in person and online. Big thank you to the opposite of National Cyber director team. Welcome to the launch of a Cyber Workforce and education strategy. I am a small part of this event. I want to share what we will be talking about, who will be talking to you at first say a thank you 2000 he wrote. This will not be a small conversation. We have a lot to get through. I direct the Cyber Initiative here at the Atlantic Council. One of the things that has been most striking about our work in the past five years is we often treat Cyber Security as a technology problem. One of the things i found striking and encouraging about the workforce strategy is its focus on Building Community and capacity to secure these systems, focusing on a human problem to address these technologies. It is linked to deeper issues about how we embed diversity in policy and confront challenges in education and workforce development. I am delighted to see this conversation led by the Deputy Director here who his works to expand cyber space factors. In partnership with kemba walden in the team, we are delighted to see the launch today. While the launch reaches back more than a year to the open summit at the white house, we are trying to engage with a wide number of stakeholders in the ecosystem and trying to reflect that ecosystem. With that, let me introduce kemba walden, acting National Cyber director who has now overseen the launch of the strategy, its Implementation Plan. I would like to bring her up for a few minutes to talk to you. For that, quick round of a pause for the work she had of applause for the work she has done with his team. [applause] kemba has been a dedicated public servant. Across both the public and private sector, she has been a depth of work on the challenges and in this office, which is an incredible accomplishment. Kemba, with that, the floor is yours. [applause] kemba what a difference a year makes. A year ago, july 19, 2022, the white house hosted a summit where we announced our intent to create the nations first Cyber Workforce and education strategy. I am thrilled to announce the publication of that strategy now. Thank you for inviting me today and thank you for your help over the course of the last year. The information from the Atlantic Council, other companies, academics, and ngos made this truly a National Strategy. I would not be a good leader unless i really put out the engine behind this, camille, director for tech and ecosystem. You can apply. [applause] and molly, our assistant National Cyber director, who brought his innovation. [applause] true fact, camille was one of the hosts at the white house before she became a deputy National Cyber director on july 19 and before sebu, he reviewed a lot of what you reacted to. The Biden Harris Administration took on this task because the world is changing. President biden recognized the strategy released earlier this year. The charged us to build the Digital Ecosystem together, making it more resilient and aligned with our values. This is a bold vision, but because cyberspace is composed of technology, people, and protocols, we must make each element of cyberspace defensible and aligned with our values. Today, the strategy focuses primarily on the people, identifying opportunities to better equip americans to benefit from this bold vision. We are at an Inflection Point where the u. S. Had an opportunity to do a do best. That is to lead and prepare ourselves for the age before us. Early on in the 20th century, the u. S. Underwent an Economic Transformation where the emergence of an industry might help supercharge the american economy. Amid insight relative to the Automotive Industry was at highly skilled machinists work necessary for relatively few functions in the production of a vehicle. Rather than competing against rivals for a small slice of the workforce, American Companies brought new people into the rock into the industrial revolution. Those who previously had not participated in the new economy became positioned to earn more and enhance their quality of life a noble vision then and one we can learn from today. With this expansion of the industrial workforce came in the Great American middleclass. The gains made by the middleclass unleashed an era of prosperity. We did it before in the Industrial Age and we are doing it now in the digital age. [applause] thank you. Today, the Biden Harris Administration seeks to strengthen the american middle class by bringing more of the workforce into this digital age to keep the country secure, to increase Economic Prosperity, and to ignite the next generation of american innovators. We must conclude every american with cyber scales and drastically scale up the cybersecurity workforce. Filling cyber vacancies is a National Security imperative. Achieving this goal also further reinforces our Economic Prosperity. One is not exclusive of the other. The strategy we are publishing today will generate new skills training. Historically, good paying jobs have been constrained to the relatively narrow sector of the workforce with advanced degrees in Computer Science and engineering but it is clear that this motion is outdated. Communities currently underrepresented in the Cyber Workforce have not been empowered to join this workforce or they simply have not always envisioned themselves holding jobs in cyber. That is why this strategy focuses on enabling allamericans to pursue Career Opportunities in cyber. Relatedly, many cyber jobs currently in high demand do not require specialized skills. Inherent Computer Scientist or engineer. As is reflected in my own career path. I am neither an engineer nor a scientist, yet i have the requisite cyber skills necessary to serve as your acting National Cyber director. This is also the case for most of my colleagues and most open cyber jobs across the country. Many are attainable with a skillsbased certificate or a Community College education. The National Strategy focuses on local communities, bringing more people from more places with a broader set of experiences in the digital economy. That will require meeting the workforce where they are. This is where the strategy focuses on driving three contemporaneous outcomes across the workforce. Shift toward a skillbased approach to hiring. Encouraging Lifelong Learning cyber skills development. And enhance and expand Cyber Workforce opportunities to allamericans. To that end, the middle class requires foundational resources broader than what has been traditionally offered. We need to recognize that no entity can do it alone, nor does any entity have a monopoly on the identification or creation of cyber talent. We need to evaluate candidates beyond those with bachelors degrees, that includes those suffering from active duty, parents wintering for us or retiring First Responders and others from varying backgrounds often have or could obtain the skills needed to fill cyber jobs. In many cases, they simply need a skillsbased credential to become soughtafter talent this means looking at skills people gain from apprenticeships, Community Colleges, coating boot camps, competition, gaming, and from online certifications as frequently as we look at Fouryear College educations. Building an economy from the bottom up, the middle out you have heard that it necessitates a lifelong commitment to developing cyber Skilled Workforce workers. A nimble workforce is securing a feature of cyberspace were allamericans thrive. All american strife. To deal with climate change, health care and end, we need an adaptable workforce that is not constrained to the technology as it stood when they left formal education. I am a lifelong learner. The strategy encourages the Cyber Workforce continually pursue learning act opportunities. There is a role for universities, but we also need employers, online academies, trade groups and others to continually retrain our workforce so we remain competitive into the next century. To take advantage of those learning opportunities, foundational cyber skills must be treated like a basic liberty. It is a baseline scale that enables future training. Once the workforce possesses digital literacy, then that workforce will be equipped to manage changes we expect in the coming 5, 10, 20 years. We need to also ensure that our Cyber Security workforce looks like america. Americas diversity is indeed our superpower. There is no country like ours. We have just begun to tap into the capabilities of our full population. Women and Underserved Community members are particularly underrepresented in cyber jobs. The untapped skill and potential for these groups acts like an anchor holding back the economy, removing barriers for these populations by prioritizing investments in these Diverse Communities will further advance americas middleclass lift the entire economy while strengthening National Security. Cyber jobs are also great for communities comprised of all backgrounds, abilities, and experiences. We have to invest in the disinvest it. Disinvested. To ensure that cyber jobs are available for all americans, implementing the National Cyber workforce and education strategy requires joint action by government of the industry, academia, and civil society. It is an ambitious task, to be sure. Yet we have stakes riding on our collective ability to act. The federal government is seeking to remove barriers that prevent cyber talent from getting that critical first job. This will benefit both early cyber talent new to the workforce and seasoned jobseekers to the cyber field. I challenge americas other sectors to reduce barriers to entry. Under this bold vision whereby Economic Prosperity flourishes, parents working in a single good paying job will have more time with their children. Communities will be stronger, quality of life will be position for steady improvement, and cyber space will be more secure for all participants. It is clear we must act. Fortunately, we do not have to wait for some faroff future date. The white house is leveraging the bold Action Congress took passing the bipartisan infrastructure law and the inflation reduction act. The Biden Harris Administration already has from the funding and pathways needed to turn the strategy into a reality. We are now coupling these bipartisan laws with this strategy to advance administrations vision of a robust Cyber Workforce equipped to build a safe, secure, and resilient cyberspace. I look forward to taking the next steps with you all. [applause] thank [applause] you. [applause] week will have remarks in a moment from rob shriver, Deputy Director of the office of personnel management. I want to introduce rob. I am excited he was able to join us. If we talk about strategy implementation, the next thing that comes to mind is this. Rob has a unique perspective to shed on changes that will be coming quickly. His role encompasses all recruiting, hiring, compensation, and a range of Management Issues for the federal work force. Rob is engaged in the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, and has a unique perspective on how hiring changes and thinking around skillsbased credentials will impact us in the years to come. [applause] thanks for that introduction. Wonderful to be able to share the stage with this great panel and follow acting director walden. I think no more powerful visual of what she is talking about and what the stage look like when she was up here. It is great to help launch the National Cyber workforce in education strategy. I want to thank the Atlantic Council for bringing us together. Such an important forum. The most pressing issue of the day from when the 60 years. I am representing the largest employer in the country, the federal government. 2. 2 million civilian workers. I am fortunate to have the role i have where we have been focused on cyber talent come out from the beginning of the duration. I have jeans and with me, who has been focused on jason with me who has been focused on this. Cultivating tech talent is clearly a top issue for today and one of the top issues of our day. Consider that staff the consider this. We report to the president about all things cybersecurity. A White House Level agent, this is a brandnew thing and just a sign of how far we have come. It shows how deeply the Biden Harris Administration is committed to increasing and amplifying tech talent across the nation and in the federal workforce. In fact, it complements the president s management agenda which specifically identifies ip and Cyber Security is Mission Critical skill set that we are working on across agencies in the government. And for good redesign technology has played such a key role in enabling Government Services to continue through the pandemic. We have seen how Workplace Flexibility can be winwin, giving workers ready folks ability and worklife balance and giving employers access to talent, wherever that talent. That talent may live. We also recognize the power of data to measure progress on walls. The federal government, as an employer, needs not only to keep pace but to be a leader in this ongoing digital transformation. As we listen to the Panel Discussion coming up next, there are three things to keep in mind. First, the next generation of leaders is ready to make their mark on the world. They are fluent with technology in a way that my generation has not been they have never known a World Without the internet at they have maybe never seen a paper map or listen to a cassette. They have had coding and tax classes their entire lives. We want them on our teams. That is where opium comes in. Opm comes in. I appreciate that the leadership understands that implementation work is critical and requires cooperation across government. They have been such great partners in helping to facilitate that cooperation. We are charged at opm with facilitating an agencys efforts to bring top talent on board. In the cyberspace, some of our efforts are not new. For more than 20 years, there has been a Cyber Program that is offered scholarships for students in exchange for Public Service, but there are other things we are doing that are not new. There are special hiring authorities that allow agencies to bring postsecondary students and recent graduates under their teams with a starting salary of up to 72,000. We have also issued guidance for agencies to increase internships, specifically paid internships. If an internship cannot cover food and a place to stay, folks will be limited and will in turn elsewhere. We are in the process of updating regulations that govern the pathways program. Those include internships, fellowships, recent graduate hiring and also the president ial management fellowship program. As updates are going to make it easier to recruit top talent from diverse backgrounds, including people that have technical education, skills and certifications that the acting director mentioned, Community College graduates. All those folks will these pathways will make it easier to bring them into the federal government. That is point one. 2, these jobs do not necessarily require a college degree. We want to make sure we also continue to recruit college with which people with cultural beers, but we also want to focus on what an employee can do, no matter where they learned to do it that is why our guidance encourages skills based hiring. We are exploring ways to realign many of the tech, sabre, ai, and data rose to skills based hiring, eliminating the lead for previous Work Experience or integrate if you can demo straight that you that the skills to do the job. Not only does this expand talent for, but it also removes barriers that once held qualified people back from Public Service. And the last point is that these skills are incredibly valuable throughout the entire economy. We have seen over the last couple of months that the Tech Industry has been experiencing layoffs. That is tough from those companies and painful for worker